Phases
by xXLauren MusicXx
Summary: Life brings us many different phases. Series of one-shots based around/after 'Protecting People'. Tia/Rocket; Mei/D'Jok; Micro-Ice/Yuki.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik Football.**

**The Bad Phase**

In a quiet house that loomed on the snowy planet of Akillian, two lovers were lying peacefully in bed together sleeping with not a care in the world as light from the moon peered through a gap in the curtains landing on a snowy haired girl. She looked twice as pale with moon's light shining on her and her body near the tanned male next to her.

It was early morning and not a sound could be heard along the streets of the friendly planet and not a mutter could be heard as the lovers and families slept peacefully in their beds. In the particular house with the white haired female and her tanned lover, the quietness was equal to that of the rest of the planet. That is until an angel's scream filled the empty house; awakening the young man with a start as he sat up hastily. Absorbing the situation, he turned to his lover who now sat in a ball with her hands holding her hair by the roots at the sides.

Bad phase.

As he reached out and gently took her hands in his, he thought about all the phases they went through day-in, day-out as her fearful expression looked at him in shock.

'Rocket...' she stuttered. '...you were...and they...I...-' He hushed her before she could utter another word; recognising the dream as she stuttered only parts of it. Her expressions after each nightmare often gave it away too.

'I know Tia but it's ok now. I'm here, the nightmare's over,' he assured her and she nodded; still looking as scared as ever. He easily brought her foreword and wrapped his arms around her, holding her fragile body close to his heart as she shivered from the fear rather than the cold.

He hated those who had left her tortured soul to be tortured some more and making him have to witness her horrified state on a regular basis. But no matter how regular it were, it still gave him shivers just thinking about it.

It made him shiver as she clung on to his shirt so much he could almost feel her nails piercing his skin because she was so scared. It made him shiver as he pulled the blankets up around her to keep her warm but due to the shivering; they quickly fell back down again. And finally, it made him shiver when he felt the tears she cried seep through his shirt. It shot many emotions through his body. He wanted to cry. He wanted to get angry. He wanted to beat the crap out of someone that hurt her. He wanted to be the victim instead of her. More importantly, he just wanted to never see a single tear leak from her eyes again. He would be forever in the debt of anyone who could do that for him.

He gently rocked her body to try and get her to sleep. He succeeded but the shivering and scared expression remained. He placed her flat on the bed and brought the blanket up over her shoulders. He quickly checked the time to see it was 4.00 am. He sighed before sticking to the usual routine he had set for these type of days and turned on the baby monitor beside her bed, turned on his lamp to give her some light (she suffered major panic attacks when she woke up in the dark) and then left the room.

He didn't want to interrupt her sleep and he wanted her to keep the heat to see if that would ease her shivering so she needed the entire blanket. He set up the other baby monitor on the coffee table in their living room so he could hear her in the room but she couldn't hear him (the baby monitor's were the best way for Rocket to find out when she needed him) and got a blanket and pillows from the cupboard. He set them out on the couch before he hoped in; keeping his ears wide open in case she called for him. Even as he slept, Rocket's senses were on red alert as he attempted to get a few more hours sleep before going ahead with a long day...

Tia stirred in the bed for a moment feeling lost until she regained memory of what had happened in the dream. She shot up with a start and started breathing heavily in a slight panic but not anything like the major panic attacks she had suffered before.

'Rocket...' she said as if he were sitting next to her but she knew he wasn't and knew what it was he had done because it was their usual routine when a day like this happened.

Rocket stretched as he tried to wake himself up before slumping back into the couch. He had heard something which was what half woke him up but he was too tired to recognise what it was so he let it be since he heard nothing at that very moment. However, that soon changed.

'Rocket...' he heard and one eye opened as he took in his surroundings and then everything else from last night came back to him. Recognising the voice, he jumped off the couch and ran to their bedroom; easily opening the door so not to frighten her.

'Hey Tia...' he whispered gently as he entered. 'I'm here.' He sat down next to her on the bed as he said this but she never stirred. Instead she kept her head bowed. Placing a hand on her forehead, he checked her temperature. 'You're temperature's a little high and you look quite pale. Are you ok?' Thankfully, he received a slow nod.

'Yeah, just...nervous,' she muttered back; still shaking. Rocket nodded and pulled her closer to try and ease her pain. After about half an hour, he decided it was time to start going about his day the way he usually did when she was like this.

'Will you be alright for a few minutes while I get you some water?' he asked and she nodded before allowing herself to fall back under the covers in a ball. He gently kissed her hair and turned on the TV for her before leaving the room; the door wide open and baby monitor still on. He got her her glass of water and her morning medication which she had to take no matter how she felt. With that done he took it in to her and left it down on her bedside locker. As she sat up to take her tablets, Rocket was taking a blanket she had had from when she was a kid out and left it sitting across her lap. She smiled a thanks at her lover before wrapping it around herself like the duvet and watched TV. Rocket sat with her for a short while before deciding it was time to get some work done.

'I'm gonna go do some stuff round the house. Will you be ok for a bit?' he asked and she nodded. 'Alright. I'll leave the monitor on in case and the door open. Call me if you need me, alright?' he asked as he kissed her hair.

'Promise,' she muttered just before he pulled back.

'I love you,' he whispered; looking lovingly into her emerald orbs.

'I love you too,' she whispered back before he gave her a gentle kiss. They smiled at each other once before Rocket got the courage to stand up and leave the room; leaving the door wide open like he promised.

The first thing he did was ring his parent's and asked them to pick up a few household necessity's that were needed but Rocket was unable to retrieve due to his lover's condition. They agreed and said they would call up after to drop the items off and check on Tia. Then Rocket got some food into himself and Tia before he finished up the laundry Tia had started the night before. He then did the small amount of dishes and just as he had finished, in came his parent's; eager to know about Tia's condition. He thanked them for doing the small amount of shopping before he went in to check on Tia as they put the food away.

He opened his mouth to ask her how she was as he entered but he quickly closed it when he found her sleeping peacefully. He went over to her a knelt down beside the bed so he could see her face clearly and gently pushed hair back. She seemed peaceful enough so that was a good sign. He continued to stroke her hair when he concluded he had better get some work done before she woke up so he could lay around with her and keep her calm for the evening. At least he could do that now; at the beginning of this he couldn't leave her side awake or asleep in case she hurt herself or something. Now he didn't have to stay with her but did for a period of time anyways just to give her that extra bit of comfort. Taking everything into consideration, Rocket checked the baby monitor to make sure it was working alright and then quietly left the room so she could get some rest...

'Are you alright son?' Norata asked as his son re-entered the kitchen later that evening after doing some things and leaned on the kitchen worktop; closing his eyes and taking deep breaths as he tried to focus his head and relax. Regaining composure, he nodded.

'Yeah Dad, I'm fine.'

'Great. Now tell us how this whole thing is affecting you, not just how you're feeling today,' Keira jumped in and Rocket couldn't himself from giving her a shocked look before comprehending the acquisition. He bowed his head before answering.

'It's just...hard watching her go through all this and not being able to stop it. I can't even tell her when it's going to happen! I can only comfort her which I guess is better than nothing but still. It's just frustrating, that's all,' Rocket confessed, doing his best to blink away the tears that formed in his eyes. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see his mother looking at him with gentle eyes.

'It's getting better. She's not half as bad as she used to be and before you know it, it'll all be over. It's going to take some time for it to stop completely but it will stop and before that, things will be a lot less hard on both of you. It's hard now Rocket, but it will all be worth it in the end I promise. Try not to lose sight of that.' The tears that had formed in his eyes had disappeared but were now replaced by new tears. His mother always knew the right thing to say; Rocket always found himself turning to Tia for advice and since she couldn't in this case, there was no one better to help guide him through it than his mother. Realising this, Rocket made a mental note to himself to go to his mother with his problems more often and not be so dependable on Tia.

'Thanks mum,' Rocket said earnestly and she smiled before Rocket pulled his mother into a hug...

'Are you sure you'll be alright?' Keira asked just as her and Norata were leaving. Everything was more or less finished and Rocket was planning then to hop in beside Tia and not move until tomorrow morning so it wasn't fair on his parent's to hang around. Besides, Tia didn't need round the clock attention and one person (well, him at least) being there was enough now where as before they use to have to have one person in with her and back-up in case she needed a dose of something or they needed to call an ambulance or even if Rocket just needed help keeping her calm. Rocket and Tia had control now so they would be fine.

'We'll be fine mum, I promise! I swear if there's anything wrong, I'll call you!' Rocket promised and reluctantly Keira agreed to so after goodbyes and Rocket's thanks, the couple left. Rocket then had a quick shower and got dressed before entering the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. He took the bottle out of the fridge and just as he took a sip out of it, he heard something muffled on the monitor. He stopped drinking and listened intently when he heard Tia let out a desperate cry of help. Dropping the bottle almost instantly, Rocket ran as fast as he could to her aid.

'It's ok Tia, I'm here!' Rocket promised as he ran into the room and saw her sitting up in the bed shaking with her head bowed and breathing heavily. Gently he put his arms around her as he sat on the bed and pulled his lover to his body and rocked her to help calm her down. 'It's all alright now, I've got you,' he promised as he kissed her head and stroked her hair. Knowing she was safe and that Rocket would let no harm come to her, Tia did what she could to calm down and enjoy the moment.

The two stayed how they were for almost an hour; enjoying each other's company as Tia's body stopped shaking. Rocket was still gently rocking her and she was enjoying that extra bit of comfort.

'Are you ok?' Rocket asked gently all of a sudden and moved her slightly so he could see her face better and was relieved when she nodded with a light smile on her face.

'Yeah, I'm fine thanks,' she assured him making him smile. He placed a kiss on her forehead before pulling her closer so she could cuddle up to him and she did for a few minutes before Tia released herself again and looked up at him. 'Do you want to watch a movie?' she asked casually and Rocket smiled before he did what he could to forget the way she was no more than an hour ago and act as normal as possible...

The whole way through the movie, the two stayed embraced on the bed with Tia's hand on Rocket's leg allowing him to trace her palm as it brought a sense of peace to him. His sub-conscious made it hard to enjoy the movie as every little action, every little thing spoken, hell every little breath Tia did had at least 75% of his attention. It was just his worry for her which he knew he was going to have to get used to since it would be a long time before, if ever, he got over it. Oh well, at least no one could take her from him right under his nose.

'Do you want to go to sleep?' Rocket asked his fiancée following the movie as they lay down on the bed; facing each other.

'I'm ok for just a little bit longer,' Tia insisted but Rocket wasn't so sure about that.

'You sure? You look exhausted,' he said gently as he placed a hand on her cheek and stroked it gently with his thumb.

'I'm ok for a bit. I just want to spend some time with you for a bit, that's all,' she explained and with a smile from Rocket, Tia knew her option was being gladly accepted. She smiled back at him before allowing him to pull her closer so she could cuddle into his chest and he could smell the lavender shampoo linger in her hair.

'Are you ok? We've been so focused on me lately we've never thought about you. Nothing's bothering you is there?' Tia blurted out suddenly after a while of enjoying each other's company. Rocket knew immediately what she was trying to say; with her being ill and all everyone was more or less focused on her and as far as Rocket was concerned she was the most important thing so he himself never really thought about what he himself was going through. 'This must've affected you too Rocket. You never talk about it so talk now.'

'Nothing's bothering me Tia, I swear,' Rocket promised with a small laugh but Tia had other ideas.

'Even if there were would you talk to me about them?' Tia asked and the smile was almost immediately gone from Rocket's face as he bowed his head. Just as Tia was about to start her giving out, Rocket spoke up.

'You have enough to deal with Tia without worrying about me. And there is nothing wrong, I promise so don't worry. It's just... I hate waking up every morning and not knowing if it's going to be a good day or a bad day,' Rocket confessed before continuing. 'But that's the only thing I hate. I love waking up and seeing you, it makes me forget about everything else and be happy. You're here after I truly believed you never would be. You really are worth everything.' As Rocket said all this, Tia smiled. As much as she believed now he loved her more than life itself, those little speeches he made every once in a while gave her that little reminder that made her heart pound hard in her chest. 'And there's another one of those soppy love speeches you adore...' Rocket joked to lighten up the mood a bit and he succeeded in doing so.

'You and me forever, right?' Tia said after a short while.

'Forever,' Rocket promised with a wink making her giggle.

'Pinkie promise?' At this, Rocket couldn't help the laugh that erupted from his belly but he nodded anyways before connecting two if their pinkie's.

'Pinkie promise.' With that, the two lovers smiled at one another before pulling each other into a long, passionate kiss...

**Part 2-The Future Phase: at some point in our lives, we all must make choices on the future. That phase is coming up very quickly for two certain newlyweds… Mei/D'Jok**


End file.
